My 'armadillo' lizard

[CartoonKitsune79]

Hello everyone. I recently bought an adorable lizard from a pet store I trust (healthy, well-cared for fish and herps, and knowledgeable staff who are also fish and herp owners themselves). I have a bunch of spare supplies at home (tanks, substrates, light/heat, decor, etc.) just sitting in my closet, and I wanted to get a small, inexpensive lizard that I could set up for (since I was part of the NJ faculty lay-offs, I recently had to decide against a larger, expensive reptile until I have a secure job back).
I saw this cute little reddish-colored lizard that the store had just gotten in as a kind of 'armadillo lizard'. I went home and did some research and learned that it's probably a 'forest armadillo lizard'- cordylus tropidosternum, which is a related species that pet stores label as just armadillo lizard since the 'true' ones are so rare and expensive.
Either way, it looks like a little armadillo with her plated back, even if she doesn't roll into a ball

I mainly wanted to find out if it is definitely a Tropidosternum or not. It seems, unfortunately, hard to find info on this genus anywhere. But, from pictures and info online, it seems that mine is the 'tropical/forest' one, although I have seen some 'jones armadillo lizards' that look almost the same as well.

I have had her for almost 2 weeks now. (I don't know if it's a she, but from the bit I read, females have slender heads and chubby tummies, where males have wide heads and leaner bodies. Mine has a slender head and chunky tummy. But I doubt that is 'official' sexing info anyway)

I also hope that her set up is correct for her species since the info out there is sparse.
I have her in a 15 gallon tank. sand-soil substrate. a pile of slate which gives her a basking temperature gradient on the slate ranging from the mid 90's up to around 103-105. The cool side of her tank is 80. Night temps around 70-75.
She also has a branch that she likes to hang out on, or use the underside as a cave, a couple of plants, and a bowl of water she likes to lay in to soak. I spritz the tank in the morning as well.
I have been feeding her crickets, mealworms, and baby dubia roaches.

She is about 6 1/2" total length, which I read is full grown for them.
She is also quite skittish.

 

[catfish77]

i did a trade last week and have three of these guys now and i am having the same problem you are. figured i would let you know your not alone lol

 

[CartoonKitsune79]

Hehe awesome! Hopefully someone can help us verify 100% what species we have then!
Whatever they are, they are awesome little guys though, aren't they?
I never knew about the cordylus lizards before, and so glad that I was introduced to them now!

 

[catfish77]

i have always had skinks and geckos and there care was real close to a skink so i figured i
would check them out. i like to watch them run around they love to eat but not to happy to be held. i thinks i have two females and a male but they are sub adults so they wont breed for awhile. i got to see the birth i think the live birth has to be awesome.no waiting on eggs.

 

[snowgyre]

Here is a fairly technical reference to the Cordylus genus. There are 47 species as of 2006, and some species are broken further into subspecies. The website has got a lot of really excellent information on Cordylus, including a bunch of photos.

http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Animalia/Cordylus_Genus.asp

 

[CartoonKitsune79]

Thanks for the link!
Good info on care and nice list of the Cordylus, but still can't find anything there to actually verify what type of cordylus I definitely have.
The only photos there were of a c. giganteus, and a c. niger. which I definitely have neither of those.

When I search online myself, the lizards listed as 'Jonesii' and 'Tropidosternum' often look identical.
I assume mine is Tropidosternum since that seems to be the 'armadillo lizard' that pet stores usually sell. But since the store I go to gets more unusual rarer lizards sometimes that you don't see at Petco, Petsmart, etc. it's likely it's the less common cordylus.
Also, mine loves the water which is another trait I've seen for Tropidosternum. Not sure if Jonesii share this with them? Mine loves to climb branches and soak in the pond.

 

[Neon Gliding Lizard]

I think you might have C. T. Berraduci. It's a ssp. of many C. tropidosternum ssp.

 

[angie.h]

Here's my " girl. " I'm not positive on the exact type, as you said they are always labeled simply as armadillo lizards. One thing I can tell you, I've owned these in the past, and this is my sole one that I own right now, but they seem to be one of the hardiest lizards around, and a great choice for an inexpensive pet. My high basking temp. is probably about 98 and she rarely uses it, she seems happier at the mid 80 range. Iv'e had her about 5 - 6 years and she is cute and funny, the pic where she is wedged between the log and the glass is a spot that she gets in to and will spend an entire minute or so just wiggling back + forth really vigorously, like she's itching a scratch. Really funny ! And she is hardy....during the winter the temps. go down to about 60 -62 at night and she does fine with no supplemental heating. They also don't seem to suffer at all if the UVB goes out for a while. She eats crickets and small superworms, she even eats the medium with no trouble at all. If 2 crix crawl by at once she will grab one with one side of her mouth and try hard to get [ and usually succeeds ] to get the other in the opposite side of her mouth. She's a hoot. You picked a good, hardy lizard and you will probably have it for years to come.

 

[Neon Gliding Lizard]

Your species looks like a Cordylus Tropidosternum with no ssp. to it.